Community Guidelines
ROOTS. WOUNDS. WORDS. INC. IS DEDICATED TO PROVIDING A SAFE, RESPECTFUL, HARASSMENT-FREE EXPERIENCE FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP, STAFF, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, AND PROGRAMMING PARTICIPANTS. We expect all members affiliated with Roots. Wounds. Words. to accept full responsibility for themselves and their actions during their time with Roots. Wounds. Words. We do not tolerate harassment of Board Members, staff or participants in any form.
Anyone who violates these Community Guidelines may be expelled from the Roots. Wounds. Words. organization and community spaces - in-person and/or digital - at the discretion of the Roots. Wounds. Words. Inc. Board of Directors and/or Executive Leadership Team.
Harassment is defined as:
Offensive and/or unwelcome comments related to gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, dis ability, mental illness, neurotype, physical appearance, body type, body size, criminal justice-involvement, age, race, skin color, ethnicity, nationality, language, socioeconomic background and status, employment status, and religion;
Deliberate misgendering and/or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names;
Any body shaming, anti-fatness and/or fat phobia;
Gratuitous, unwelcome and/or off-topic sexual images, innuendos or behavior;
Simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “hug” or “backrub”) without consent and/or after a request to stop;
Threat of self-harm, threat of violence and/or incitement of violence towards any individual;
Deliberate intimidation, sustained disruption of discussion, stalking or following;
Unconsented and/or unwelcome photography, video recording and/or audio recording of any individual;
Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others;
Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease;
Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent;
Publication of non-harassing private communication and/or literary work product without consent by the involved parties.
Roots. Wounds. Words. reserves the right NOT to act on the following:
Complaints of Reverse-isms (eg, reverse racism, reverse colorism, heterophobia, etc.);
Complaints criticizing anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-transphobia, anti-queerphobia, anti-fat phobia, and more.
Roots. Wounds. Words. prioritizes marginalized people’s safety over privileged people’s comfort.
Board Members, Executive Leadership staff, employees, independent contractors, and participating storytellers who are asked to stop harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Failure to do so will result in removal from the Roots. Wounds. Words. organization, community and programming.
Reporting and Enforcement
If you are being harassed by a member of the Roots. Wounds. Words. Community, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact us immediately at rootswoundswords@gmail.com.
All reports will be handled in the strictest confidence. We will respond as promptly as we can. We welcome feedback on our efforts to create a welcoming and respectful environment.
Roots. Wounds. Words. Inc.: A Literary Revolution
Adopted by the Board of Directors on September 6, 2020.